Las Palmas to St Lucia
24 December 2009
Log reading 11,129 nautical miles
Chris, Adrian, Andrew & Trevor
Would you buy a used boat from this mob?
We left the marina to the sound of a brass band and we responded with "I come from a land down under" as loud as we could (not loud enough) on the stereo system. It was a wonderful moment waving back to the hundreds who lined the breakwaters cheering us on. It was also a wary moment as over 200 competitors and others tried to leave single file in a short period. Thank goodness the wind was gentle but a few skippers were a bit pushy.
The breeze increased as we left the harbour and moved up to the crowded starting line, crossing about 100 seconds late as planned. Turning or running down the line was not really an option with so many boats and there was one bad collision that we heard about.
After a few hours, the wind speed soon exceeded 25 knots and we dropped our cruising chute. Some boats left it too late and had trouble as it gusted higher. Some repeat ARCers had intriguing set ups (Parasailors and twistle rigs with special poles) and went like rockets.
The weather was warm and we had very little rain. We saw only one small whale (or sea monster?) that didn't break the surface and several groups of dolphins. Also a few wooden pallets and netting right in our path, obviously sent to keep us on our toes! Of the other boats, we saw only half a dozen.
We did not persevere with fishing because the hand line caught in the water generator on one occasion. Lots of small flying fish skimmed the waves and some landed on the boat, unfortunately no good for eating.
It took 18 days and seven hours, which placed us 77th on corrected time out of the 158 boats in the cruising monohull division. Fandango, below average length, was handicapped for spinnaker although she only had a cruising chute. Most of the time the wind was 15 to 20 knots with regular gusts of 25 knots or more and some nasty squalls. Our worst hit 50 knots one evening and stayed above 35 for half an hour with plenty of rain, then around 30 for about two hours.
The apparent wind angle was usually 150 to 170 degrees on our chosen course, which was based on the GRIB files and other info. We used main and poled out genoa, cruising chute with and without poled out genoa and in stronger winds just the main, which gave us excellent speed with an easy helm. The swell was usually 3 to 4 metres with half the peaks breaking into 1 metre waves. The photos don't seem to show it as it was. There were two wave directions and every so often the combined effect tried to knock our stern as we surfed down some of the waves.
We tried not to push this non-bluewater boat too hard but Fandango handled the conditions exceptionally well, giving us an amazing top speed of 13.6 knots for a few seconds hurtling down a wave, though 7 to 8 was the norm. The rolling motion didn't help our speed. During the last week without a pole we dropped down to 6 to 7 knots, which added another day to our time and robbed us of a place around position 30 out of 158. Our average speed through the water for the whole trip was just below 7 knots. Through the water distance was nearly 3000nm but instrument problems stopped us from getting an accurate reading. We used the autopilot and then hand steered for the last 3 days when it packed up. Steering by hand was surprisingly enjoyable during our shortened solo 2 hour watches.
The crew worked and relaxed together exceptionally well. Their good humour made the crossing very enjoyable and I wish we were together for the Pacific run of an even greater distance.
Whilst boat speed and handling were a credit to the designer, Marc Lombard, some of the equipment let us down. A bad installation by Jeanneau finally surfaced and caused the Raymarine autopilot, radar (for squalls at night) and the wind instruments to shut down after a fortnight. A Lewmar hatch leaked. The rudder bearings and Lewmar steering turning blocks made terrible noises despite heaps of lubrication. The Icom VHF radio was intermittently unable to transmit. Although it gave us all the electricity we needed, the Duogen water driven generator broke its drive shaft couplings twice. We had to unbolt this 25kg monster off the back of the boat to bring it inboard for repairs whilst riding the big waves. The watermaker was superb but it dropped a bolt from its mounting. Problems with Selden reefing, sheaves, pole and prod caused damage to lines etc. The pole bent the first time and broke in two on two other occasions. We used broken lengths, a saw, drill and rivets to effect repairs. A Harken sheet winch died (making 3 out of the 4 on board to fail at some time or another since new). The chart plotter worked but when we got near to St Lucia the data input died so we could not get shore detail and had to rely on our backup computer navigation systems. The Yanmar engine hours gauge went blank. Oh and the Iridium satellite phone, not long out of warranty, died half way through the crossing. Nice one Murphy!
Our troubles whilst frustrating were nothing compared to some unfortunate boats. How about getting knocked down in a squall whilst all your port holes were left open? Or perhaps no electricity whatsoever for the whole trip? Rigging failure or a broken rudder etc etc.
We entered Rodney Bay and crossed the line on our own. It took a bit of getting used to being on a beat after so long. An official photographer snapped away but no gun. We prepared the boat for the narrow entrance into the marina. What were those long round things with lines attached? Ah, that's right!
As we docked, an ARC official greeted us and another handed us a basket of fruit plus various goodies including a magnum of beer (yes, beer). A mobile barman poured us stiff rum punches and a solo steel pan drummer set the mood. People came to say hello. My Heather had just arrived, also Adrian's wife, Hilary. What a welcome!
The last (damaged) boat has made it in late at night to a cheering crowd. The parties are over, the tales to tell mostly told and many of the boats have left. We have been cleaning up, repairing, diving and sightseeing around this attractive island and will do more. Chris and Adrian have just left for a cold and snowy UK. Trevor stays on for more rum and bananas. We are grounded, figuratively speaking, but looking forward to a relaxed Christmas and Hogmanay as we wait for parts and for the Wifi to work again.
In the New Year Heather returns to Oz. Another Heather, who did the ARC on another boat, joins Trevor and I for a trip to Antigua and thereabouts. From there Fandango heads back down to the Grenada and then westward to Panama.